Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Roger Altman, a Wall Street executive who was deputy Treasury secretary early in the Clinton administration, visited the White House on Tuesday to discuss leading the president's National Economic Council.

The administration's interest in Mr. Altman is a sign that the White House is still pursuing a top corporate executive to succeed economist Lawrence Summers, who leaves at year's end and is expected to return to his professor's post at Harvard University.

...

In 1996, Mr. Altman founded Evercore Partners, a boutique investment bank based in New York, where he is currently chairman.

It would be nice to get someone from the private sector in the White House, but... a banker? Obviously, the midterm shellacking didn't mitigate President Obama's tone deafness.